After all of these years of anticipation and waiting for the follow-up to 2002’s beloved Dungeon Siege, we finally have Dungeon Siege 2 and I am happy to tell you that it’s worth the wait. We are spoiled by Gas Powered Games, we truly are. GPG is one of the shining (and far too rare) examples of gaming companies that realize that the fans are what are important. If you loved Dungeon Siege (as most of us did) but had just a few, relatively minor complaints with the game, GPG listened. This game is the result of their crafting, toil, response, and efforts to give us an even better Siegeing experience.

First things first. This game does have the same engine as the original Dungeon Siege. While it would be even nicer to have a brand-spanking new gaming engine to drool over, there was no real need for one. On the plus side, this means that most anyone who would run the original Dungeon Siege can run the second one. Even though the engine is the same, everything is improved. The graphics, while certainly not Battlefield 2 or Half-Life 2, are still superb. The effect you get from panning to the other side of a tree and seeing the tree instantly become see-thru or from the complete lack of a “load screen” just because you entered a building is still as awe-inspiring as it was a few years ago. Sadly… the lack of load screens is something that other gaming companies are *not* copying, and we’re not sure why. The original Dungeon Siege makes me irked every time I see one of those unnecessary load screens (EA Sports, I’m looking at you!) and DS2 just reminds me how wonderful the engine is.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s the exact same game. If there was room to improve on Dungeon Siege, you can bet that GPG took the initiative and improved it. Hated the original game’s lack of story? Unless you think that Half-Life2 and Morrowind are what should be standard, you’ll be happy. Dungeon Siege 2 has a somewhat generic storyline, but it’s deep and full of dynamic characters and has sub-plots galore. You’ll rarely have a moment when you won’t feel like you’re working on a half-dozen things at once.

Your fighters can now dual-wield.

Another improvement you’ll notice from the outset is the character creation system. It’s more in-depth than the original game. Characters now have skill points to spend among a dozen or so different skills each time they level up. Fighters, for example, can increase their speed, their toughness, learn and improve dual-wielding (yes… dual-wielding is in the game at the outset this time!), and a host of other skills. Yes, this is similar to the system in Diablo. In fact, many of the changes from the first game to this one make it more like, but quite better than, the Diablo games.

As in the first game, you’re not stuck in a class. The game recommends, rightfully so, that you stick to a specialization. The skill trees reinforce that. For example… a dual-wielder won’t have much use for increasing the skill at which he blocks with a shield. Dungeon Siege 2, however, leaves that entirely up to you. If you really want your combat mage to become skilled in throwing knives, then you’re more than welcome to do that. The skill tree allows for a much wider variety of characters and you can truly tailor you character to be whatever you like. My level 30 melee can potentially be very different than your level 30 melee.